The Difference Between the Two of Us
by Hail the Wolves
Summary: Max has lived in solitude her whole life. She finds peace in art and the dream that she'll one day escape her prison. Little did she know that day would be soon.


_Maximum has been kept in solitude her entire life. She has found peace in her artwork and the few people that she is allowed to know. She is a child of genetic enhancement, where scientists specifically pick the expressed genes and the perfect mixture, at least to them. But what they did not count on, was the uncontrollable factor in a human being. The soul._

I added a few more strokes to my latest masterpiece, if I do say so myself. A long dragon twisted itself around in spirals, attempting to reach the hawk that was just too far for its claws. I had used all of paints to get the coloring of the scales and plumage perfect. I sighed. It would be a while until I got some more.

I took the digital camera out from under my mattress, where I hid my entire stash of not allowed outside world objects. I photographed the picture, knowing the white coats would have covered it back up in dull white paint by the time I was back from testing.

See, I grew up in a lab. Not just any lab though. It was a super-secret, privately funded lab that experiment with genetics. They worked on everything here. Recombinant DNA, gene specialization and enhancement, and anything else you can think of.

Basically, I was a designer kid. The scientists decided which genes should be expressed, and how fiercely. So if you summed everything up, they picked what to them would be the perfect being. My IQ was un-chartable, I can speak over fifteen different languages, and could defend myself with four types of karate, my senses were times ten more sensitive, my immune system could deal with virus you probably haven't even heard of, and could break CIA code.

Okay, the code breaking thing wasn't exactly perfect being, but just a fun thing for me to do when I was locked in my cell. And guess what? The CIA really needs to update its code book.

I heard footsteps down the hallway, and quickly hid the digital camera again. I jumped into my bed, throwing the sheets over me and crunching into a ball. Three loud bangs resonated off of the steel door that enclosed my "room".

"Wake up call! Rise and shine princess!" The voice was gruff and wicked, delighting in disturbing me. A heavy lock clicked, and a man in a gray uniform entered my room. "Come on you lazy brat, it's time for your morning tests."He shook me roughly. Being handled struck a nerve. No one touched me without my permission, or if they were a white-coat that could kill me in an instant with gas in my room. I grabbed his wrist, twisting it until he was down on his knees. His hand was almost at is forearm when I told the guard "Don't you ever touch me again."

Soon I heard another person coming down the hall, probably sent to figure out why I was late. "George? Is she ready to go? The big guys are getting antsy, and they want to hurry up…" A younger, somewhat naïve guard stepped into my prison, and his eyes grew wide with astonishment. "Wha….?"

More footsteps charged down the hallway. But these I recognized and they made me smile. A small chocolate colored figure skidded to a halt outside of my door, huffing and puffing. "Don't… worry… about… her. I'll… escort her." She looked up smiling at me.

I smiled at the two guards, giving them a sharp wave as I left with my savior. I looked down at the young black girl who was standing next to me, that had an annoyed expression and a rambling mouth.

"You know Max, if you keep messing with the guards, they will eventually get back at you. I mean, they can get into your room at any time. It's all the rest of us can do to keep them from almost killing you. Couldn't you sometimes just follow what they said? I mean, it would be so much easier, and then Iggy wouldn't be messing with the cameras right now and Angel wouldn't have to distract the scientists while I get over there so you can go through all those stupid tests-"

"NUDGE!" I yelled/whispered so that I could stop her from talking. I loved my guardians; or that's what I call them at least. The scientists called them my "world adjusters", meaning they helped me live like I was in the real world. But the four of them did more than the job requirement; they helped protect me in a way I wish I could do the same for them. They kept the guards from being too rough, made the scientists lay off on certain tests for awhile (though they all inevitably came). Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge, and Angel. I knew they were all younger than me, and that I should be the one protecting them. Someday that would be the way. But for now…

I arrived at the testing room, giving a hug to Nudge for her help. She smiled and then ran off to finish the guard problem.

"There you are Max!" The little girl with beautiful blonde hair and glittering blue eyes pranced over to me. I opened my arms and picked up Angel, my little baby girl. My bravest guardian.

"Hi sweetie," I pulled her in tight, wanting to keep her as close and as long as possible. "How are things going for you?"

"I made sure all the scientist people were distracted so they wouldn't notice you were late. But you might want to hurry, they're coming and I'm not supposed to see you right now." I sighed, squeezing her one last time before putting her down. None of my guardians were supposed to interact with me except during noon break, when they came back from school for lunch and my tests were halfway done. That was when they told me about the outside world, what it was like, and would occasionally bring me gifts so I could see more of what was happening (hence the camera and laptop hidden under my mattress. They were paid quite a bit of money to keep everything here a secret. And how many 7-15 year old kids can spend $50,000 a week?) So as I watched my little one run down the hallway, I heard the footsteps of the scientists coming from the other direction. I smiled, but there was nothing funny.

"No. 14578, let's go. It's time for today's medical trials." I followed after the small mousy man holding a clipboard. I was about to be stuck with needles for about an hour of all sorts of drugs that messed with my senses and forced me into comas at points. They always tried the new medicines and cures on me first; if I could deal with it easily enough, then I human trials would be conducted. If it didn't work for me, then it went back to the labs and I had to fight off the disease myself. And I usually could. And hey, if it eventually saved millions of lives, it was all worth it, right?

I'm not so sure.


End file.
